| "Dateline,
Washington. President Roosevelt made the startling
announcement today during an impromptu radio address
to the nation: America has its first Super-man."
— Ralph Reynolds, 10 November 1941.
Name: Lawrence Clyde
Moreland AKA The Indestructible Man, The
World's Smartest Bomb.
Nationality: American.
Political Affiliation: None.
Education: Some Grade School.
Rank: Ensign (U.S. Navy), captain (U.S. Army).
Decorations: Purple Heart, Silver Star, Distinguished
Service Medal, O.B.E. (England).
DOB: 4/13/11, Booth, U.S.A.
DOD: 2/14/77, Lynhaven Roads, U.S.A.
Known Parahuman Abilities: Moreland was immune
to the effects of any damage inflicted on his body,
as long as he knew it was coming. This immunity
encompassed radiation, cold, heat, friction, acid
and nearly every other force that would usually
damage the human body. Equipment and clothing in
Moreland's possession were not protected. He was
completely normal otherwise, subject to damage and
death just as a normal human, provided he had no
indication damage was forthcoming.
History: Moreland was born in Booth, Virginia
to a poor coal mining family. At thirteen, Lawrence
(Clyde to his friends) was forced to work in the
mines to support his ailing father. Because of this,
Moreland learned quickly to despise his family,
who he believed stole his childhood. His obligation
to his siblings and mother kept him around, at least
for a time.
When his father died
of “black lung” in 1933 and jobs in the
area began to dry up, Moreland left Booth and joined
the U.S. Navy to avoid the growing effects of the
Great Depression. He worked for four years onboard
smaller ships in the Lynhaven Roads yards. The work
pleased him, and he stayed on for another term of
service. Soon, it was the only thing he could imagine
doing.
In 1941 with the growing
hostilities in the Atlantic, Moreland was itching
to get into the thick of real combat. He was assigned
to the DD 245, the Reuben James in January
1941, and rode on three convoy runs to Britain and
North Africa before the James was sunk.
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A 1941 TIME magazine celebrating the discovery
of America's Indestructible Man.
After
his Talent manifestation, Moreland was reassigned
to the Department of the Army under the direct orders
of President Roosevelt. Endless propaganda reels
demonstrating his invulnerability were made for
public consumption. As America's first parahuman,
he was a combination hero, super-star and role model.
Endless books, comic books, novelizations and movies
came out during the next five years fictionalizing
his (up to that point) rather boring life.
In
late 1942, Moreland began training with the fledgling
Commando school at Achnacarry Castle. As The leader
of Talent Operation Group 1, he served on eleven
missions into occupied countries. In addition, he
was on the first wave of the Section Two First Talent
Assault Group sent in on the Overlord invasion,
to soften up the enemy on D-Day.
Moreland was friendly
with many Talents, and known as a down-to-earth,
capable warrior. A small hub of international parahumans
operating out of England became fast friends later
in the war, among their numbers were Cien,
Vogel, Aesgir, Jumping Johnny and
of course, the Indestructible Man.
Moreland was infuriated
by the death of Cien during Operation: Market
Garden in late 1944, and swore to hunt down the
Ubermensch responsible for it, Krieg.
He was also officially reprimanded in 1945 for making
public statements against Field Marshall Montgomery,
the British General who devised the ill-fated airborne
operation.
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In
1945, Moreland's wish came true, as he and Vogel
confronted Krieg in the ruins of Leipzig.
Moreland executed the German (who was attempting
to surrender) with a direct bazooka shot to the
head. Vogel's testimony on his behalf during
the court-martial hearings that followed saved Moreland's
career and reputation, without them, he might have
served prison time.
After the war, Moreland
was a popular figure in the news. In 1955, he survived
a ten-megaton explosion at the TRINITY testing grounds,
walking away from the blast with only his hair messed
up. This feat has yet to be topped by any other
Talent. Three movies were even made, based on his
highly modified fictional life.
This popularity ended
in 1958 however, with the release of a book called
Prodigal Son. Written by his youngest brother
Stuart Moreland (who Moreland had not seen in years,)
the book detailed his foul temper, drinking and
racism, as well as the abandonment of his family
in the midst of the Great Depression. Always eager
to participate in the fall of a star, the public
ate it up. With this scandal, more stories on Moreland's
life (both true and fictional) were printed.
Moreland's star declined
further in the 1960s, with stories of his reprehensible
conduct during the war towards Jewish POWs and blacks
popping up from time to time.
However, these stories
appeared with less and less frequency as the world
slowly forgot about him.
In 1977, in Lynhaven
Roads Virginia, Lawrence Moreland was found dead
in his tiny apartment, a victim of liver failure
due to excessive drinking. He was 66 years old.
America's Indestructible
Man had finally self-destructed.
In 1955, the Indestructible Man walked away from
this 10-megaton explosion at the TRINITY test ground.
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